Platy Experience

[tootie123]

I think I finally know why my platys died. They would just swim near the bottom and sit there and they hardly ate. And they would hide behind the fake plants and shimmy. I guess my tank was too cold. It was at 72F. Someone told me wrong.

[Dave66]

I think I finally know why my platys died. They would just swim near the bottom and sit there and they hardly ate. And they would hide behind the fake plants and shimmy. I guess my tank was too cold. It was at 72F. Someone told me wrong.

What size is your tank? Standard practice is 10 fish; three males, seven females. They live far better and longer in such a setup. Bump your temp up to 78 slowly over a couple days, then start as I suggested.
Though they are often viewed as such, platies aren't beginner fish by any means.

Dave

[slinky]

I think I finally know why my platys died. They would just swim near the bottom and sit there and they hardly ate. And they would hide behind the fake plants and shimmy. I guess my tank was too cold. It was at 72F. Someone told me wrong.
72 should not kill the fish. My guys are baking at 81-83F in my apartment and the platy and molly both suddenly came down with some strange problem where they would just hide either at the top or at the bottom and in small crevices and sit there. Then they might shake a bit, almost like shivering, wagging their tail back and forth. Still not sure what my problem is but it isn't temperature and yours is still not too cold. 75-79 might be optimal but those three degrees aren't the make and break.